After a few hours of rest Mother came to me and ordered me to follow her outside. I did and she and I stood on the cliffside overlooking the valley. It was a beautiful sunrise as we watched the first rays of the sun peak over the distant mountains, painting the sky in brilliant oranges and reds. She smiled over at me as I let the sunlight sink into my skin, warming me.

“Are you ready to shift? Its going to be a lot the first time.” She said, her smile growing wider as I nodded.

She explained the process to me and I took a deep breath before trying to reach for the bit of magic that would let me shift my body. It wasn’t hard, the power was just… there. Waiting to be used. I fell to my hands and knees as my body grew in size and Sapphire scales erupted from beneath my skin. My claws grew larger and thicker but the tips remained razor sharp. I felt my spine lengthen as a tail grew from my backside, ending in a wickedly sharp spear like tail. My face lengthened and I felt the heavy weight of my horns on the back of my head as my neck sprang out of my shoulders. Finally a pair of massive wings emerged from my back and there I was, standing in the morning sunlight in my new body, Sapphire Scales tipped with burning Orange points gleaming in the morning sunlight. I looked down at them with pride and then looked to Ereneya, doing my best to smile in my new form.

“How does it feel?” She asked in my mind.

“Amazing. I feel so… powerful.” I replied as I flexed my claws.

She smiled and transformed herself, and I realized that while I may be bigger than a human I was still very very small compared to her. I was maybe a quarter of her size at best and her wings dwarfed me by far more than that. Where I stood maybe twice as tall as a normal human with my head raised, she stood at least four times that, but she did not lord her size over me. She brought her head down next to me and brushed up against my side, nudging me toward the cliff edge. I looked back at her as she pushed me and made a sound of fear as I tried to speak.

“From my experience, this is the best way to learn.” She said with a laugh.

I tried to resist but she took one of her massive claws and simply batted me off the edge like a cat. I flailed in the air as I tried to gain some Control. I flared open my wings and I felt the force of them opening in my shoulder blades so hard that it felt like they were going to be pulled from my back. With a few mighty beats of my wings I managed to fully stop my fall and fly forwards over the top of the wood. I heard her approaching before I snapped my eyes to the side and gave her a glare. I felt her amusement as she reached out with her mind.

“Very nicely done. Very dignified.” She said with a chuckle.

“I had no way of knowing that would work!” I cried as I tilted my body and my wing tips nearly grazed the tops of the trees.

“The first rule of being a Dragon that I learned was that your body knows what it needs to do, even if you do not.” She said softly as she steered me to the right.

I said nothing in response, content to pout in my own mind.

I could still feel her amusement as we reached the far side of the forest and the mountains there. I flared my wings wide as I reached the peak and slowed myself, landing upon the stone with a loud thump. She landed next to me and I felt her press up against my mind again.

“It feels so…” I trailed off as I struggled to find the words.

“Free?”

I nodded my head as I watched the sunrise in the distance. We sat there together for a few moments simply watching the sun creep up into the sky, letting its warm rays hit our scales. She broke the silence as she curled her tail around me and sheltered me under one of her wings.

“Are you sure about this meeting with the King? I don’t want anything to happen to you.” She said sadly, and I knew she was thinking of her own mother.

“I am. King Ruhn cares for his people and he is not so foolish as to think that the Church will be enough against the enemy that knocks at his door. You once said that even a youngling like me would have enough power to defend my home… do you still think it is so?” I asked.

“Yes though… Younglings have unpredictable power at best. Physically you are capable of devastating any human or group of them but… your scales are still soft and even arrows will find themselves able to puncture them if they hit the right spot. A Ballista bolt or something large like it would be an almost certain death sentence...” She said quietly, trailing off into her thoughts.

“Which there will be no shortage of on a battlefield.” I finished for her.

She said nothing in response but I could feel the worry and fear in her mind and I nestled up against her.

“You do have strong magic though. I can feel it bubbling within you. I’m not sure if it was always that way or if my attempts to aid you before the transformation pushed more magic into your body than it was supposed to have but you have far far more than any youngling I have seen. That will be your best bet to make use of.”

“How many younglings have you seen?” I asked, remembering how isolated she had been.

“Four, Parent and youngling pairs have made their way through my territory on a handful of occasions. Most simply passed by but one tried to fight me for my Territory. I did not kill him but I gave him a permanent way to remember me.” She said with pride.

I laughed slightly at that. We sat there in silence for a long while before I shook myself free of her wing and spread my wings wide once more.

“Shall we race home?” I asked.

“Oh that is a challenge you are sure to lose Hatchling.” She growled as I leapt from the mountaintop and beat my wings, turning towards home.

Despite my lead she arrived back at the Cliffside long before I did. Once I realized that she was faster I adjusted my course and meandered my way to the cliffside where she was waiting for me. I landed with a bit of difficulty and shifted back into my humanoid body. I could still feel the power in my skin but it was… suppressed. Distant. We made our way inside where I found my Brothers and Sir Greyson waiting, armor donned and ready for travel.

“Where are you three going?” I asked, looking at them with curiosity.

“Headed back to the city to prepare a few things ahead of your meeting with Ruhn.” Sir Greyson explained.

“Well I’m going to!” I cried and Ereneya placed a hand on my shoulder.

“No, you are going to learn what it means to be a Dragon and we have a few things to prepare ourselves ahead of your meeting with the King. And since you do not have a Concealment Charm yet, you will be staying here while I take them back towards the Capital.” She said in tone that meant there would be no arguing with her.

My shoulders slumped as I realized arguing with both of them would be pointless and I looked towards my Brothers as they walked up to me. I reached up and wrapped my arms around their necks in an awkward hug.

“Just be safe.” I said as I released them.

“Of course.” Irand said with a smile.

I watched the three of them walk back out with Mother and climb upon her back. She took off from the cliffside and I waited until they had risen into the sky before I headed back inside. I pulled out a few pieces of frozen foods from the cold room and began whiling away my time working on a meal for when Mother returned.

It was a little over an hour later that the doors opened and she strode in. My attempts to cook had met with mixed success and she gave me a smile as she walked up to the table where I had set out the meal. She sat down across from me and piled food onto her plate before speaking.

“Now then, before we begin anything else you need to understand your position.” she said, taking a bite of the potatoes I had made.

I said nothing as she continued.

“You are a Dragon, you bow to no human leader. Even if he was your friend before, you stand on equal ground to him at the lowest. Dragons are bound by magic, we must obey the laws of it even if we wish not to. If we offer our services to a Human or other individual then we are bound to that. We can ally with them and we can work with them but we must be mindful of what we agree to. So do not act as if you are a servant of the Crown when you meet with this King Ruhn, you are his equal and you are approaching him as an ally not a servant.” She explained.

I nodded and she gave a quick smile between bites.

“Good. The other thing you must be mindful of is that the Church is going to fight your inclusion on anything. It does not matter what you do, they will be upset at your presence. I hope you have a plan for that.” She said.

I nodded again and she gave a few nods herself, enough that I could see the worry eating at her as she cast her thoughts to the coming meeting. She wasn’t worried about herself but for me, that much I could tell. I reached out and grabbed her hand.

“I promise, I am not going into this with no plan. And I am going to make sure we all make it through this.” I said, feeling confident in my scheme.

She let out a breath and nodded. We finished the meal in silence and I gathered up the dishes and made short work of cleaning them with a few flicks of my hand using my magic. She looked at my handiwork with amusement.

“Well then. You’ll need something a bit more presentable than commoner clothes if you are meeting with the leader of a Kingdom.”

I gave her a confused look and she gave a small laugh as we headed outside once more. She took off from the Cliffside and I took a running leap off the cliff before I rose to follow her. She led the way over the mountains and out of the valley and I reached out to her with my mind.

“Where are we going?”

“To the people who have been making my clothes for the past several centuries.”

It wasn’t a long trip by any means, maybe an hour of flying, but by the time we landed my wings were sore and I stretched them out before shifting back to my humanoid form. I looked down at the grooves that my claws had carved into the dirt as I landed and looked over to where she had landed with nary a sign of her passing. She saw my look of disappointment and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“For only your second time flying you are doing fine. Landing takes time to learn as well. Its not as if you are pressed for time to learn.” She said, placing a kiss on my forehead before she ruffled my hair.

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I gave her a laugh and looked around the forest. It was dark, even though the sun hung directly overhead. The Tree branches were thick with… Spider Silk. I stuck very very close to her as she led the way into the trees. She followed a very well rehearsed path and I could see the walls of hair thin thread that lined the path to either side of us, as if we were be led towards some snare at its end. It was only a few moments of walking before we reached our destination but it felt so much longer as I followed her. I nearly bumped into her when she stopped at the end of the path.

I looked around suddenly feeling very small as I saw that the trees here reached far far higher into the sky than those we had landed near and the forest was so dark around us. Mother steadied me with a hand and I looked in front of us. It was a dark clearing, overhead a mass of spider silk blocked out any sunlight and I felt my skin crawl at the sight of it.

“Matriarch Cavari! I have come to see you!” Mother called in a casual tone.

The small sounds of the forest went silent for a moment before I heard a low rumbling shuffle in the distance. I looked up at Mother and she had an amused look on her face as I no doubt looked terrified. At least one of us was having fun.

The rumbling sound grew louder and I eventually noticed a large shape rushing towards us through the Canopy. At first I thought it was a bear but as it grew closer I could see it was larger still than that, large enough that whatever it was was bending the trunks of trees as it moved towards us at high speed. It was hanging upside down from the tangled mass of webs in the canopy and I felt my stomach plummet as I realized it was a massive spider. Not just a spider though, it was a spider with a woman’s torso and head rising out of the center. The creature leapt onto the ground in front of us in the clearing and the woman smiled down at us.

She had hard chitinous spider legs that erupted from the central portion of her body, each of which ended in wicked points and had hook-like growths near the end of each leg. She was massive, easily standing taller than I would at my largest even in my Draconic body. She had long black hair that was pulled back into braid that rested over her shoulder and continued down the front of her body. The humanoid part of her body was very pale and I could see that she had not one pair of eyes but two more on her forehead, just above the eyebrows. But the most disturbing part for me was the extra arms. She had a total of six of them, two in the normal position, two that emerged from her ribcage just below the normal arms and a final pair that emerged from around where her shoulder blades were. She wore a dress that draped down over the section where her human torso connected to the Spider. I tried but failed to stop my trembling at the sight of her standing over us.

“Ereneya, it has been too long my friend!” The spider cried as she bent down and her six arms wrapped mother in a hug.

Her voice was raspy and almost came out in a hiss.

“Indeed it has old friend, how fare your daughters?” Mother asked, smiling as the Spider pulled out of the embrace.

“Ah they do well. Your enchantments have helped us immensely. We now number several dozen here. I see you bring company as well… very small company.” The Spider observed and she placed a set of hands on her waist and tilted her head.

“I do. This is my daughter. Dear, this is Matriarch Cavari of the Silk Weavers.” Mother said gesturing to the Spider woman, who seemed positively delighted at the news mother had a daughter.

“Oh my, A daughter? And you did not come to share the gossip? Shame on you my friend!” The Spider said as she slapped at the air near mother. “I would have thought I would hear of this before you brought her here! I could have prepared a warm welcome and she could meet my daughters!”

I stiffened at the mention of Daughters, not wanting to meet more Spider People until my heart had stopped racing from the first. Luckily Mother waved her hand and shook her head.

“Unfortunately that will have to wait until another time Cav, we need her to be presentable for an audience with a King only two days from now.” Mother explained.

Cavari made a hissing sound at the word King and looked at me.

“You could do far better than meeting with Men dear. Just look at you! An adorable thing like you would be so popular among my daughters. Or at the tavern near the edge of the valley, there are plenty of women there who would love a girl like you.” Cavari said as she crouched her body down to speak to me.

I blushed and Mother doubled over laughing. Cavari looked confused and I found my voice.

“No no, I have no intention of courting the King. We are going to offer him our aid and hopefully ensure that the Kingdom does not send any more soldiers to our home. Mother said she brought me here to find something more presentable than… this.” I gestured to my current clothes.

Cavari’s body twisted as she tugged at the clothes around my body and clicked her tongue.

“Someone repaired these with magic, despite knowing full well that such mendings do not last over long!” She looked towards mother and I could feel the annoyance in the air. “But yes I do believe I have something in mind that would fit you quite well. Tell me can you partially transform your arm so I may see your scales?”

I looked towards mother and she gave me a nod. I focused on merely transforming my arm. It took a moment but eventually I succeeded in getting it, my arm was covered in scales and was the same as when I was transformed but scaled down to my human body’s proportions. It took effort to concentrate on it but I managed to keep it in place until Cavari seemed satisfied.

“Hmm yes yes! I do believe I have several ideas that would suit you quite well. Do you believe that your negotiations may…. End poorly? At all. Obviously you would not plan on them going poorly.” She inquired and I thought for a moment.

“There is a chance.” I said slowly.

“Hmm then something practical would be better. Tell me child, are you comfortable with suits?” She hummed to herself as she thought.

“Yes. I like dresses but I’ve worn suits to things before.” I said quickly.

“Familiar with suits? Then you must be like my dear friend then. A dress and a suit then, a good combination I would wager. A combination for all occasions would be Ideal.” The spider said to herself.

“I will wait here Cavari, but do call if you need any inspiration.”

“Yes yes. I’ll send Thalo to you, she does find you so interesting after all. But come along child, we have work to do.” Cavari said as she lifted me from the ground and set me upon her back.

I panicked for a moment before Cavari spoke to me directly.

“Relax child, you have nothing to fear from me. I only devour men after all.” She said with a chuckle.

“I-I was a man until recently.” I said softly.

“No, you may have possessed the body of one but you were not. If you had always been a man you would not have been so quick to wish for a dress. I have met many like you in my time in this world. And I can assure you that such things are not rooted in men’s minds. Now come, we will have much time to talk as I work.” She said as we traveled through the forest far far more rapidly than I had seen even a horse move.

She only slowed her pace when we approached a particularly dark portion of the forest that I realized was the entrance to a large cavern. She scurried inside and we were in a well lit room lined with brightly burning lanterns. A handful of others similar to Cavari were resting in the center of the room, gathered around a large table that was lined with various fruits and vegetables. None of them were as large as Cavari, the largest may have been half her size and I breathed a sigh of relief at that. She pointed at the largest of them and another of her arms pointed towards the exit.

“Thalo, Ereneya is at the Gathering spot if you wish to go meet with her. Odessa you will come with me, we have weaving to do.” Cavari said to those present.

The largest of the girls excitedly rose to her feet, legs maybe, and scurried out of the cave with giddy laughter. One of the smaller girls rose as well and followed behind Cavari as she entered a side room. She gestured for me to step off of her back and I hopped to the ground, the girl who had followed her hiding behind her legs as she watched me.

“Come now child, when Ereneya visits you are a chatterbox. Surely you can introduce yourself to her daughter.” Cavari said, pushing the girl forward with one of her legs.

The girl was small, still large enough to have her head over mine but it was a difference of a foot against Cavari’s dozen foot advantage over me. She skittered forward and brushed the hair out of her face.

“H-hello. I am Odessa, it is nice to meet you.” She said shyly.

I saw a blush rising across her face and I felt heat bloom in my own face at that.

“I-I am Naravie. And it's my pleasure to meet you, Odessa.” I said quickly.

Cavari barked a laugh and I looked up at her.

“A Dragon does not give her name lightly indeed!” She cried, howling with laughter.

I felt my face go pale as I realized that I had given her my name.

“It's alright girl. Do you know how long it took your mother to give me her name? Go on, take a guess.” Cavari said, black eyes twinkling.

“Uh… a few years?” I guessed.

“Ten minutes. I met her when I was still human and well… I was quite the beauty back then.” Cavari said.

“Human? You were Human?” I asked.

“I was… I had always been attracted to women and when I began dating a girl in earnest… well one of my male suitors did not take kindly to that rejection. He cursed me to be a monstrosity and sealed away my own magic. Your mother found me again in the woods outside of my old home a few weeks later. She was one of the few who accepted me for what I am now. My lover did as well but… that is a story for another time. For now we have work to be done. Odessa, could you procure the Black, Blue and Gold Dyes before we begin?” Cavari asked.

Odessa scurried out the door and Cavari gestured to a platform in the center of the room.

“Please remove your outer clothes and step up here.”

I felt heat overtake my face and I couldn’t meet her eyes as I tugged at the shirt I was wearing. Cavari made a sound of annoyance.

“Come now girl, I have seen plenty of naked bodies and you have the benefit of your undergarments to remain decent.”

I decided not to pry on that statement and I pulled the shirt off, feeling it get caught on one of my horns. Cavari helped me free the cloth from my horn and I removed my skirt and tights as well. At the very least it was warm in the cavern so I wasn’t freezing without my clothes. I stepped up onto the platform she had gestured to and she circled around me a few times.

“Hmm I think my ideas will work. Make the… yes yes. Wonderful! Now hold still girl, this will tickle but I need you to remain as still as you can.” She said to me as she pulled out a long thread of silk from the palm of one of her hands.

I stared at the silk as she made a long enough strand of it to loop around my body several times and I had to resist the urge to shake and throw it off. After the loops were finished Cavari began humming to herself as her multitude of hands began picking apart each piece of the silk she had draped around me and wove it together using her needle like fingers to bind threads of it together. She was right, it did tickle each time one of her fingers brushed against me. Odessa returned shortly and I’m fairly certain she nearly dropped the large bowls she was carrying in her arms when she saw me. One of her primary hands came up to cover her mouth and she hurried inside the room, setting down the large bowls of multicolored liquids next to where Cavari was working on me. I heard Cavari say something in a language I didn’t understand and she pointed to each of the bowls of dye in turn. When she was done, Odessa picked up the bowl of blue dye and held it behind her head with her back arms. She used the rest of her hands to dip into the dye and then began running her own fingers into the spaces Cavari had already done. I felt a slightly awkward standing there as they worked but I had no desire to interrupt them. I was ever so grateful when Cavari spoke.

“Well child, why don’t you tell us of yourself and your life. We do not hear much of the outside world here in our little home.” Cavari said idly as she worked.

I took a deep breath and looked at Odessa who was still awkwardly avoiding meeting my gaze as she worked. And then I began to tell the both of them my tale, from my youth with Lord and Lady Greyson and my brothers to now. Odessa listened closely to my stories and I added a few unnecessary details in spots just to see her face light up as I spoke of things beyond the forest. Cavari said nothing but every time I added extra details I could see her smile and a handful of times she gave me a wink. When they were approaching the end of their work Odessa hurried from the room and returned with a bowl of white dye, which confused both me and Cavari until she began applying it in small dots across the dress that Cavari had woven onto my body. By the time I finished my story they had completed their work and Cavari brought in a large mirror for me to look at myself in.

She had woven for me a long and heavy overcoat dyed with black that reached my ankles, full of plenty of pockets and looking quite dashing if I said so myself. Beneath that she had woven a simple dress that reached just past my knees and Odessa had dyed it an even deeper blue than my own scales and accented it with black. A golden belt rested around my waist and I saw that the white dots throughout the dress almost gave it the impression of a night sky with twinkling stars. The two of them stood back and looked over their handiwork with smiles.

“That was quite clever, my child. Quite clever indeed. Now dear you will most likely wish to wear tights with this outfit. Dresses can be a bit breezy if you need to do any strenuous activity.” Cavari said with a smile and I watched red bloom across Odessa’s face again.

I hopped off of the platform and nodded to Cavari before I looked to Odessa.

“Thank you very much. I think I will need more than a single outfit that fits me properly though… If you will allow me to visit again soon?” I asked, gaze flicking between Odessa and Cavari.

Before her mother could answer Odessa blurted out “Yes! Yes! I-If you would like to of course.”

She buried her face in her hands and fled the room before I could say anything and Cavari chuckled as she lifted me back onto her back.

“She likes you!”

“I gathered that.”

“Be kind to her when you come back. She is terribly shy but a bundle of joy once she opens up.” Cavari said with a smile.

I planned on coming back, I most definitely did.